Emma Watson, of Harry Potter fame, has exploded onto the fashion scene stealing the press limelight from the veteran style elite. Is she is now paving her way towards becoming the next fashion zeitgeist?

The ultimate fashion accolade is to have your style recognised because it sums up the spirit of the times.

In the ’60s we had super-short hemlines, shift dresses and bold patterns. Brigitte Bardot, Twiggy, Britt Ekland and Marianne Faithful symbolise an era with their often provocative dress sense.

The 80’s brought us punk and girls like Debbie Harry from Blondie and Madonna. They covered themselves in leather, lycra and leopard. The girls of the ’80s had an air of nonchalance, a sense of rebellion that also speaks volumes about the decade.

For her Vogue December cover shoot Emma Watson is styled in a distinctly ’60s manner and she taps into the current zeitgeist movement of looking back and reliving what has gone before.

What with Mad Men on our tv’s, Lydia Leonard playing Jackie O on stage in Onassis, and other such cultural phenomena dominating the public domain fashion is having a deja-vu moment.

Reliving retro styles

The gowns that floated down the runways for a/w 2010 heavily referenced the fifties.

Balenciaga and Miu Miu championed the ’60s shift mini dress and the reason your office is awash with camel is because designers and high-street stores have fallen in love with the ’70s hue.

For spring, summer the retro look is still strong.

Oscar de la Renta used fifties shapes in modern patterns and boxy tweed jackets over sheath dresses to reinterpret the glamourous era for his resort collection.

Coupled with the fact that last august the fashion elite packed up their bags and left London for Vintage at Goodwood, it is clear to behold that fashion is having a moment of nostalgia.

The Vintage at Goodwood event was themed around all things bygone; Lilly Allen, the Grazia girls, Sophie Ellis Bexter, Daisy Lowe, and Brix Smith-Start all descended on Sussex for a weekend of vintage fun.

She has regularly graced the covers of some of the worlds most prestigious fashion magazines, these include British and Italian Vogue, Marie-Claire, Elle, Tatler and ES the Evening Standard’s style supplement.

The pictures of Watson for British Vogue were immediately picked up by The Telegraph and she featured on their front page as well.

Styled in a ’60s manner the images beg the question, is Emma Watson set to become the eye of the retro fashion storm?

Growing up in the public eye on film has actually lent her a few favours, fashion favours that is.

In 2009 she became the ‘face’ of Burberry, a role that can really launch a career, her predecessors include none other than Kate Moss.

In 2008 she was signed to be the new face of Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle taking over from Keira Knightley.

In a number of high-profile campaigns the child star has managed to shake off her associations with Hermione and become a young woman in her own right. This is no mean feat in the eyes of the media and she has been lauded for her style ever since.

Earlier this year SunHeeGrinnell a fashion blogger for Vanity Fair perfectly summed up Emma’s rise to fashion fame;

‘Where did our little Hermione Granger go? Harry Potter’s sweet but fiercely spirited friend is surely all grown up! Look for the pretty, pretty Emma Watson in the new spring ad campaign for Burberry. She looks now like a young woman, still cautious but with that “It girl” energy.’

Vogue cover shoot

Lisa Armstrong at Vogue announces that Emma Watson is ‘possibly the biggest British star of her generation’, she managed to earn £20 million last year while at Brown university in America.

Within its glossy pages Watson emanates an inner-glow, and appears confident and enigmatic.

The styling for the shoot is undeniably sixties; her elfin crop slicked and reminiscent of Mia Farrow and Edie Sedgwick, black smoky eyes and in one shot a black long-sleeved jumper dress that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Brigitte Bardot.

Watson has been styled by the Vogue team for her photo-shoot and yet she managed to drive the look herself. She was the one who chose to cut her hair; Vogue had nothing to do with her decision, they just championed it.

She is rapidly becoming someone to turn to for fresh fashion inspiration.

Emma herself notes in the Vogue article that she has only just regained control of her appearance;

For nine years I was contractually obliged not to cut my hair, not to tan. All the normal things girls do.’

So now that she is coming into her own, will she remain the girl with the golden touch? If the Vogue pictures are anything to go by, ring in the Watson era.